Hunter
by RWBYRedReaper
Summary: After the events of Hunted, the students of Beacon must fight their greatest enemy yet, the commander of the largest military on Remnant, General Ironwood. Follow Jaune's, and sometimes other, weekly reports that are updated weekly! Rated M for probable Smut, definite language, unfortunate tragedy, and other things I can't think of right now:)
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Jaune Arc… short, sweet, ladies love it… okay, they don't… at least I don't think they do…

I digress. It's been about three months since Ironwood tried to take over Beacon, failed, so took over Vale instead.

Since then, the aforementioned city has become a ghost town.

In the first couple weeks, a few citizens and cops tried to fight back, but were almost wiped out.

Out of 500 of them, only 100 remain. Those survivors now reside in my school.

Not my school as in I go there, 'my school' as in it's mine. Ever since Ozpin and the teachers went missing, the student body elected me as acting leader.

The school itself looks the same… just a bit more dirty and weathered. Ruby, Nora, and Coco made anti-aircraft guns to keep Ironwood's ships away, and they really work!

One time, a… What, Pyrrha?

Oh fine, I'll keep going.

The students have also changed.

Being a hunter means you usually engage enemies that rely on biting and mauling. We have to stay limber and agile. That's why most of use aren't weighed down with full body armor.

Nowadays, though, we have to fight against humans/mechs with guns.

We stay agile, mostly, but now need defense against bullets.

So, now most of the students have Kevlar or metal armors.

Honestly, it looks _awesome_. The only downside is the reason.

Psychologically, the students aren't so good. A lot of them lost track of their families and friends, and that… that really gets to a person.

For those that we did manage to save, I dedicated the entire east wing, over 5000 rooms, of the school to house them…

The downside is that our supplies are running low.

Yes, Weiss, I know this report is disjointed and sometimes wordy, but it is _my_ report… Yes, you can check it for grammar afterward, but don't change it.

Sorry about that… our resident heiress is bor-OW

…

…

…

Anyway, Ruby thinks I should say something about what happened to me.

During my fight with Pyrrha three months ago, I finally unlocked my semblance!

I can now copy my friends semblences for a short time… after which I get very tired.

Another side effect is I also receive a physical and/or mental attribute of whoever I copy.

From Pyrrha, I got longer hair, that's also slightly reddened. I also copied Weiss, so I have her eye-scar… also, Nora says I'm more of a bookworm and know-it-all these days… but I think I'd notice if that happened, of course… Lastly, I'd got into a sticky situation a week ago, and needed Ruby's speed to get me out of it… so I used it. Now I have one silver eye.

Hey, I wonder if I copy Yangs, if I'll get her bo-OW.

Don't hit me, Yang, I was just kidding…

Anyway, that's how things are now in Beacon Academy of Hunters.

The following is an account of how the war goes. Updated Weekly… I hope…


	2. Chapter 2

Hi. Jaune again… Guess I should fill you in on what's been going on the past couple weeks…

Truth is… a lot. Also, not much.

We had a Day of Thanks celebration…

Ya know, Day of Thanks? When the first Valean settlers came to the land, and the native Faunus people traded with them… and had a big feast…

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. To celebrate the holiday, and at the same time maintain battle readiness, we had our own tournament.

We had full teams first…

"Yang, go left! Blake, go right, I'll give you cover fire… Weiss, do your thing!" Ruby shouted to her teammates, and they scattered.

JNPR, on the other hand, stayed together. Jaune and Pyrrha covered the flanks, while Ren and Nora bombarded their opponents.

Jaune kept his shield up to block any incoming shots from Ruby.

*Clang* *Bonk* "OWWW!"

Ruby's shots had clipped the top of his shield, causing the metal plate to recoil into his forhead.

Jaune decided to tap into Pyrrha's semblance, and manually deflect the bullets.

Suddenly, Weiss came out of nowhere, lunging with her sword, which He was barely able to deflect with his shield.

As it turns out, 3 months of 5 hour training sessions with Pyrrha can turn a clumsy bum into a supercoordinated badass.

Jaune managed to catch Weiss's next attack by pinching her blade between his own and his shield.

Before Weiss could press the slight advantage, Jaune quickly launched the point above his head, and kicked out.

His foot managed to connect with her wrist, causing it to bend just enough to lose her firm grip, and her weapon hit the ground.

Jaune performed a few backward handstands to get out of immediate danger, then pulled her sword further away with Magnetism.

The match went really well after that… although Ren got knocked out, Pyrrha, Nora and I were able to take out the rest of her team…

Although we were badass that round, Mercury and Emerald were even more badass… took out Team CFVY, even though they were outnumbered.

SSSN beat CRDL, and by the end, only Me, Pyrrha, Merc, and Emerald stood.

…We lost… very badly… Maybe I should ask them if they can give me some tips.

Anyway, after the tournament, and the massive chicken dinner, we got some unexpected news. Turns out, Mercury and Emerald are… were actually allied with the White Fang when we met them.

They gave us intel on their entire operation, along with names and locations…

According to Emerald, they, along with their boss, Cinder, had been allied with Ironwood, but didn't know that the general would take over everything.

They haven't heard from their old boss since the invasion, and honestly, I believe them.

Yang, I said I believe them, doesn't mean I trust them entirely… That reminds me. Grab someone and watch their dorm… they leave, I want to hear about it… Yes, you're on guard duty. Yes you can get Blake… but pay attention to that door… no extracurricular activity.

So yeah… quite a bit happened the last few weeks. This coming week though, JNPR, CRDL, and Emerald are going out to one of the locations Emerald gave us, to check it out and steal any supplies we find.

So im not gonna be here to give a report… eh, ill make Ruby or Weiss do it… they like this organized leader type of crap…

Anyway, this is Jaune Arc, signing off for now…

 **A/N: I'm gonna keep Authors Notes to a minimum in this story. In fact, I didn't even want to write one in this chapter, but I figured I should. Just wanted to say: This is a new form of writing for me… if it is confusing, let me know, and I'll work on it. Also, I will try to update weekly, but if I miss a week, like a did last week, I will add a week of events for the chapter. Lastly, I am thinking of writing another story… ive seen a lot of JNPR and RWBY switching roles… and even more of body switching… that got me thinking. What if the good were bad and the bad were good? Like Cinder would replace Ozpin, Torchwick would be Goodwitch, Emerald would be Ruby… so on. They'd keep most of their personality, theyd just switch moral roles. As I am currently writing this story, I am throwing an offer out there: Any writer who wants to collaborate this story, pm me! That's all for now… RWBYRedReaper out!**


	3. Chapter 3

R: Hi! Ruby Rose here… with my girl, Weiss…

W: -Ruby, im not 'your girl'.

R: But, you are! Not mine, like mine mine, but-

W: -Whatever, keep going

R: Yeah, anyway, This is, apparently, report number three, done by Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee.

R: Not much happened this week…

W: -Ruby!

R: I was getting there! (maybe)… Not much happened this week… if getting a fresh shipment of new hunters and huntresses counts as nothing! At first, only a few ships came… from other schools, except Atlas, then…

W: -Ruby, be more precise, this isn't a video diary.

R: Ugh, fiiine. *In a monotonous voice* We received several reinforcements from other allied schools, Haven, Shade… none from Atlas though, obviously. It was nice to see teams ABRN and FNKY again…

W: -And what about Jaune?

R: Weiss, if you mention it, _you_ talk about it.

W: -*sigh* Jaune Arc left this past week with his team, CRDL, and Emerald Sustrai. They went to scout a suspect warehouse that may or may not be filled with supplies. According to Emerald, who had been allied with the enemies, but defected, there should be enough food, dust, and other supplies to last us several months. Although, the arrival of the new students may decrease that number-

Yang: Argh, that was boring… make it sound fun, Ice Queen!

Yang! How long have you been there!

Y: Long enough to be put to sleep by your girlfriend.

W: HEY!

Y: Anyway, just letting you know, while this is certainly not a video diary, its not a super official report… you need to loosen up.

W: We're in the middle of an effing war! This is no time to be loose!

Blake: I'll have to agree with Weiss on this one-

Y: For once-

B: Hey, I does what I wants.

R: GUYS! THE REPORT IS STILL GOING!

Y: Oh, right! We should continue before Weiss *mockingly gasps* Fucking cusses.

W: Watch your language!

*sounds of a brief scuffle*

W: Fine! You win!

Y: excuse me?

W: *sighs in defeat* You fucking win…

*Blake and Yang leave*

R: Okaaayyy, we should finish this fucking report…

W: Ru…R-right. Uh… not much happened after that… we're still waiting on word from Jaune… that's about it.

*more scuffling, Ruby yelps*

R: WEISS! W-we should t-turn off the c-camera.. ugh… before we make out…

W: What? OH, fuck. Sorry… I got… aroused… when you cussed and forgot.

R: Aroused?

-End of recording-

*metal clangs on metal in background*

This is Jaune Arc. This is field report one.

We arrived at the target warehouse. Turns out Emerald was truthful! So we released her. Next thing we know, I accidentally tripped an alarm, and now this place is swarmin with *grunting, then a small explosion is heard* FUCKING MECHS! We're trying to fight to the bullhead, but there are so FUCKING many… PYRRHA! AFTER I FINISH THIS, I'LL SEND IT TO BEACON… HOPEFULLY THEY'LL SEND HELP… FIND US SOMEWHERE TO HUNKER DO-*A loud clang is heard, and the recording is cut off.


	4. Chapter 4

Personal Log: Emerald Sustrai

The flight to the supply warehouse was fairly uneventful. They cuffed me, just in case. I was okay with that, because I knew that the warehouse was safe.

Little did I know that our previous employers booby-trapped the damn building.

Arc tripped up on a tripwire alarm, and I expected the worst. Surprisingly, he took all the blame, claiming "He should have foreseen traps" and "It's not like she led me to the trap.

Other than that, the warehouse was just as we left it, stock full of guns, ammo, dust, food, and other supplies.

After Arc tripped the alarm, we gathered as much as we could, and hightailed it out of there… only to be jumped by at least a division-over 200-of mechs. Arc had freed my wrists just before we left, and gave me my weapons.

So there were nine of us against 200 well trained mechs.

In the chaos, and the red, white, and black mech parts flying around, I thought I saw a different mech. It was green, and looked almost human, with hair and everything.

I didn't think anything of it, until I saw the same mech attack Arc.

Good as that kid was, he was no match for that mech. Ive never seen so many swords swirl around a person.

I went to help, but a fucking Paladin blocked my way.

The rest of the battle was a blur, and soon, we defeated them.

Then we saw it. The biggest fucking ship was turning our way, releasing what I thought was dirt.

It wasn't.

It was a massive fleet of bullheads.

We had to go, and out of habit, I did a headcount. 8 students.

Arc was missing.

…

Cut to a couple weeks later. We'd assumed he was captured by that green mech.

After describing what I saw to Rose, she began to mumble "Penny, no… it cant be. It must be. Penny no…"

She grew hysterical, and Xiao Long had to carry her away.

It seems like War can change anyone. I knew of Rose only by reputation.

She was apparently supposed to be a crazy, happy fangirl with an endless supply of energy.

That was not the Rose I met. This girl was silent most of the time, deadly serious, and absolutely not a fangirl.

Anyway, im getting off topic. A few days after Rose's episode, one of Ironwood's fast ships flew over us, dropping something.

We thought it was a bomb, and took cover. The object impacted in the courtyard, wrecking the statue.

It didn't explode though.

Rose, Nikos and I were the first on the scene.

It was a large cylinder, and looked a lot like an escape pod.

Rose cautiously opened the pod, took one look inside, then screamed and disappeared.

I looked next.

Honestly, I don't even know if I screamed. I was transfixed by what I saw.

It looked human. Arms, legs, a head, and had a bit of yellow/red hair.

That is where its human resemblance ended.

Its skin was black and red, and its face… ill never forget that face. It's mouth was slightly open, showing a few teeth. A few _remaining_ teeth. And one of its eyes was a burnt looking empty socket.

I heard a voice to my right, "Oh my god. No. no. no… JAUNE!" it was Pyrrha.

After I looked closer, I noticed her identification was correct.

The beaten, bloody, and broken person was none other than Arc.

In one of his hands, he held a disc.

The hand, however, was… wrong. It looked like his fingers had combined into one massive digit.

With a gasp, I realized that his fingers had been melted together.

The rest of his team and RWBY helped us carry him to the infirmary.

They cleaned him, and his wounds… I've seen some fucked up shit, but never like this. There were scars and lacerations on every inch of skin I could see, and when he opened his mouth, his tongue was… not visible.

He is now awake, but hasn't said or done anything but lie there.

And the video he had… was of him… being… I'm sorry. I can't finish this. I have to go throw up.

-end report-

 **A/N: quick notes. I actually wrote Jaune's torture scenes out, but didn't know if they were suitable for readers… they are pretty dark. I just want to say, there will be NO rape in this story. I believe that that is the worst crime someone could do to another. And lastly, this** ** _is_** **a war story, so there will be horrors that are definitely not family friendly that will be in this story. If you want me to post Jaune's torture stuff, comment that you want to read it. If there are more than 9 comments for it, then I'll post it. If not, then I'll probably add it at the end as a deleted scene. Now, to my last final. RWBYRedReaper out!**

 **(and shoutout to OrangeGalen for giving me the idea for Torture. Blame/thank him, not me.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for a late chapter. Holidays happened.**

Two men stood on the ledge of a tall, rundown apartment building. One was tall and somewhat skinny; the other was much taller, and very beefy.

They stood facing the distant ships hovering over the city.

The heavily muscled man spoke, "You sure we aren't gonna do something about this? That general is screwing everything up, and we're just gonna sit here and watch?"

The other man spoke back in a quiet voice, "Yes. We shouldn't get involved in a war that has nothing to do with us. The Hunters are keeping the Atlesians busy, and vice versa, allowing us to operate freely."

"And then what. One side is gonna win eventually. And when they do-"

The shorter man cut him off, "- _And when they do_ , they will be severely weakened. I am done arguing about this, Lieutenant. Inform the troops we are moving out immediately."

BEACON ACADEMY

After Jaune was dropped off and taken to the makeshift surgery room, the "Doctors", Velvet, Weiss, and Ren, set to work cleaning and assessing his damaged body.

The rest of their teams sat in the waiting room, in a heated discussion on what to do next.

"Now that Jaune is back, he can re-assume his role as our leader… never thought id say that sentence out loud." Blake said, Yang nodding in agreement.

"Did you see the shape he was in!? I doubt he'll be able to lead us, let alone stand-" Pyrrha argued back.

"Maybe-" Nora attempted to say, but Yang talked over her.

"Not all leaders stand. I read a book once…" Blake gave her a look, "A comic book once where the leader of a highly skilled team of hunters was in a wheelchair!"

"That is science fiction. This is real life. You really think someone like Jaune is gonna be able to make hard, life changing, or fast decisions from a hospital bed?"

"Guys, lemme-" Nora attempted again, but was again silenced, this time by Blake.

"Science fiction though it may be, the argument stands. Even in the Atlesian Military, some people in command don't leave their desk, and work at computers and sign things… It is not a stretch if we have a leader who doesn't-"

This time, Nora cut her off, but a lot louder.

While Blake was talking, she'd gotten up, unfolded Magnhild to hammer form, and smashed her chair to splinters.

Needless to say, the room fell silent.

"FINALLY! Now, as I was saying; We should leave the decision whether or not Jaune can, or cannot lead to… hmm… I dunno…" she paused a second for dramatic effect, "…Jaune? I mean, here we are, infighting, while our dear leader is in there, possibly on his deathbed, while we sit out here yelling at each other over whether or not he can be leader, or would want to be leader, or whether this is science fiction or…" She stopped and took a breath, "All I'm saying is we should leave the decision about Jaune to Jaune himself. If it comes to it… We'll find a… replacement leader."

Nora sat down, and put her face into her hands, and began to cry.

The rest of the room sat in shocked silence. They had never seen Nora act this way before. Sure, they'd seen her ramble, but never cry.

Pyrrha reached out to comfort her teammate, but recoiled when an arc of electricity went from Nora's shoulder to her palm.

"Don't ." Nora said, sniffling.

A COUPLE HOURS LATER

Ren, Weiss, and Velvet all walked into the waiting room.

Velvet, being the huntress with the most medical training, spoke, "We managed to stabilize him. While not as bad as I f-first thought, its still very bad. Whoever did this to him p-put burn dust in his hand, mouth, and eye. His hand is repairable, as it's only his skin that h-has been melted, and can be fixed with a scalpel and hand exoskeleton. His eye can be fixed too… but a-again by technology. His mouth, though… the tongue has been irreparably destroyed, and we don't have the technology to repair or r-replace it. Until then, he'll have to use a state of the art text to speech program."

Nora resumed crying, as did Pyrrha. Ruby, who didn't want to hear this, and so put her fingers in her ears, stared blankly at the floor.

Weiss spoke, "We have him sedated, until the cybernetic eye can be applied."

Ren simply walked to Nora, lightly took her hand, and led her from the room. Yang and Blake did the same with Pyrrha.

Velvet was left standing alone with Ruby, who quietly said, "Why is this happening?"

 **A/N: Posting will be back on track, and Sorry for anyone who saw the last upload of this chapter... stupid computer.**


	6. Chapter 55

**A/N: I just wanted to post a follow up chapter for Nora. Enjoy. and as always, I'll see you in the next chap-Wait, that's Markipliers line... Sorry Mark! Dont forget to like,** ** _comment_** **, and spread the word!**

Personal Log – Nora Valkyrie

-Nora appears on screen, looking tired and red eyed from crying-

Nora: I blew up at my team yesterday. I don't usually like arguing, so I blew up. They were shocked, and pretty sure they hate me now. I haven't seen RWBY, Pyrrha, or Ren since yesterday. Yeah, pretty sure they don't want anything to do with a rambling, crybaby like me. Only Ren saw me cry once before, and he said it was natural. I don't like crying, it makes me feel weak. The first and only time was when our village was destroyed by Grimm. I don't know why I did this time, but I did, and now they hate me.

-Knock on door, and Pyrrha and Blake enter-

Pyrrha: Hey, Nora… you okay?

N: No. You hate me. I saw the way you looked at me. I'm a big crybaby.

P: What? Who told you that?

Blake: We don't hate you. We were surprised is all. We came to apologize. We should have listened to you when you first tried to speak.

P: Yeah. We were so wrapped up in our argument over Jaune, we prioritized winning the argument over listening to other viewpoints.

B: Odd way to say that, but yeah. Also, that was a good idea you had. It didn't cross either of our minds to check with Jaune-

N: So you really don't hate me?

Ren, who had been silently watching in the corner: No. Nobody will ever hate you for acting human. I told you then and ill tell you now, crying is normal, not a sign of weakness.

N: Thanks Ren… How long were you sitting there?

R: Long enough to watch you beat yourself up about nothing.

-Pyrrha's scroll beeps, and she checks it-

P: Jaune's awake, the eye-thing when fine, and Weiss set up his text to speech program!"

N: Th-sniffle-at's great! I'll catch up. You guys go ahead.

Pyrrha puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, before following Ren and Blake out the door.

N: They don't hate me. But they should. Crying is for the weak.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This chapter has a severely underplayed RvB character in it.**

Jaune awoke in a darker room, with stone walls and no windows.

He attempted to move, but couldn't. Opening his eyes, he saw he was tied to a chair, wearing a white t-shirt and his jeans.

He noticed a metal door in front of him. It was one of those heavy duty ones, with the slot on top for people to peek in/out, and heavy screws around the frame.

'Where am I? What happened?' He thought to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted, when the door began to open… rather noisily.

Two figures walked in, one was making small clinking noises, like glass against stone, the other was silent, but it's silhouette look rather lanky and awkward.

The clinking one spoke. It was definitely a she, "Hello, Mr. Arc… Let's get this straight. I talk, and you answer. You talk… and I get angry."

"And I won't like you when you're angry?" He asked, smirking.

She was instantly in front of him, face inches from his own, and she smacked him, hard.

"As I was saying. You can save yourself a lot of time and pain, if you simply answer my questions quickly and concisely. OR, you can prolong your stay with us, by being belligerent and cocky. Your choice."

She held out a hand to him, motioning for him to speak.

"Tempting… Tempting… How bout I go with… up yours, lady."

The woman stared at him… he could see her eyes blaze with almost real fire, before turning to the figure behind her.

"Give me fire dust. A crystal." She ordered, and he saw the person pull one out and hand it to her.

"Let me make this clear. I will accept absolutely ZERO lip from you, Mr. Arc. Students with such a mouth _will_ be punished…. Painfully."

Suddenly, everything exploded into white light, and he heard someone talking.

"He's coming out… get him some pain relievers, NOW!" Someone was shrieking.

'Weiss?' He thought hazily

"Here. This should do the trick."

'No… That's Ren…'

"N-Not too m-much!"

'Um… the bunny girl?'

The white light began to condense into a super bright ball, then was pushed away.

His vision resolved to a blur, and he could make out three people standing over him, one was white, one was dark, and one had two long things on it's head.

"Wha-" He attempted to speak, but someone shushed him.

"Shhh… no talking. Not that you can anyway, but you don't want to aggravate things." The darker one said.

Jaune decided to just lie there, in the now very comfy bed, and let the pain killers do their work in peace.

Pyrrha, Yang, Ruby, and Blake entered the room.

The redhead was the first to gasp at her teammate's condition. As had been said, Jaune's injuries weren't as bad as they previously thought, but were still… scary.

"He's awake, but resting." Weiss said from a corner, "We fitted him with the speech program… I was at fault when I said 'text to speech'. The technology is a bit more… advanced than that. He will have a program… talk for him, in a way. The program taps into his brain, and says what he wants to say. There's also an override, in case the program crashes or he wants to manually input words. Along with the fact that it's a program, it has a small measure of it's own personality… It's weird, I know, but I don't know enough about the circuitry to do anything about it. Another addition is that it can sometimes project a small avatar… the company who made this either thought it was more fun and family friendly, or watched too much TV. Before you got here, we let him choose an avatar to use." Weiss explained.

"What did he choose?" Yang asked.

"A program avatar called "Theta"… the avatar is a little odd, and has the thought processes of a smaller child, but Jaune… He thinks having 4 younger sisters gave him a bit of a caring nature, and he likes the fact his program would be like a smaller kid. And honestly… that program is the most personable of all of them."

"What others are there?" Pyrrha asked, seeking to distract herself from staring at Jaune's damaged body.

"There's Program Alpha, he's… kind of a dickhead… Then Delta… he's not that bad, but…" She dropped down to a whisper, "he beat me in an argument…" Returning to normal volume, and waiting after Yang stopped snickering, she continued, "Havent really tried Eta or Iota, but the next one, Epsilon, is kinda weepy and crazy… kept referring to his memories. The last three were… a little scary." Weiss finished.

"How do you know all of this, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Let's just say I know the company very well." She answered as Jaune opened his unbandaged eye.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Weiss shot him a warning glance.

Rolling his eyes, he tapped a nearby computer screen, and an odd voice eminated from the computer.

It was like a child's voice, but doubled.

Although initially creepy, it lost it's creepiness with one sentence.

"Yay! I'm back! Oh… new people… Mr. Arc… are they nice?"

Jaune rolled his eyes again and gave an exaggerated nod.

"O-okay… new people scare me…" Theta whispered.

"It's okay Theta… why don't you come out and meet my friends?" Weiss coaxed.

"I..I don't know… you scare me too, scary Ice lady…"

Yang's laughter drowned out Weiss' no doubt unkind retort.

Jaune laughed too, but it was quickly cut off by loud coughs.

"Jaune, you should take it easy…" Pyrrha warned, also smiling.

"Theta, right?" Nora said from behind them all, startling them.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"You sound familiar… like an A.I. I once heard of…"

"A… I..?" Ruby asked, confused, "What does the 'A' stand for?"

"Artificial." Weiss replied, somewhat exasperatedly.

"Oh right… And what does the I stand for?"

"Intelligence." Her girlfriend answered again.

"Ooohhh…"

"What does the A stand for again?" Nora asked, becoming confused herself.

"Wait, you should know… you made the original statement!" Weiss growled, getting a little angry.

Nora stared at her, then burst into laughter, "Ha, I know! Just pushin' your buttons! Cuz, Oh Man… I love pushing buttons!" she proceeded to make beeping and booping noises.

Theta laughed for a second, then stopped abruptly, "Hey guys… you seem pretty cool… but Mr. Arc says he's a little tired. Can you guys come back later?"

"Sure, Theta. Rest well, Jaune." Pyrrha said, and followed her friends out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Personal log - Pyrrha Nikos

Things aren't good here in Beacon... Morale is at an all time low... Jaune and Theta are doing what they can but... I fear it isn't enough...

I just hope-

*Voice is cut off by distant screaming, soon accompanied by gunfire*

*door opens, and Yang Xiao Long speaks*

Y: Pyrrha! Come on! We're under attack!

P: Who, Atlas?

Y: ...No. it's worse... LOOKOUT!

*Sounds of glass breaking and rocks exploding, accompanied by loud screams and -bird sounds-*

-Microphone shuts off with a crackle

The courtyard of Beacon, once known for it's glistening splendor, topped by a gleaming stone statue that tells a tale of hunters and huntresses of old. Now, a war zone, filled with screaming civilians and hunter students alike.

The cause of this pandemonium is none other than the equally ancient enemies of humanity: The Creatures of Grimm.

The hastily built anti-aircraft knocked a few winged Nevermores out of the air, before they were overwhelmed.

The smaller yet equally terrifying land based Grimm soon followed.

"Get the women and children inside! Hunters, hold them off! Ruby, May! Get a vantage point and give them cover! CFVY, CRDL, and Nora! With me! Go, go, go!" The young de facto leader of Beacon ordered... through his AI. He was attempting to rally order amongst complete chaos.

The respective teams sprang into action like a well oiled machine, hacking, shooting, and slashing against the growing darkness.

Above, Jaune noticed a Nevermore had embedded it's beak in a window... _his_ dorm window.

"Look out!" Theta's multi-layered voice called out, and he turned just in time to see a large claw speeding towards him.

He jumped back just in time, as Sun jumped in front of him in defense.

"What the hell you doing on the battlefield, Arc... You don't even have a weapon!" The monkey faunus shouted as he beat the living snot out of a Beowolf.

He nodded, then ran back towards the school.

'Theta, set up a network, so you can coordinate the defense

"You got it!" His companion AI responded quickly.

He looked back up at the Nevermore, and saw a sudden fiery glow envelope it, then set it ablaze.

'Yang has her. Good.' He thought, and continued running into the school.

Once safely inside, he sprinted to the top of Emerald Tower to survey the battlefield.

It was complete pandemonium.

The students attempted to create a perimeter around the main courtyard, but the ever growing tide of Grimm kept pushing them back.

Beowulves, Creeps, Ursae, Boarbatusks, and even a few Griffons were amongst the fray.

Ruby, May, and a few other snipers helped a bit to thin the Grimm ranks, but for every death, two more seemed to take their place.

Jaune began having giving mental orders to Theta.

'Pull everyone back into the school, then have them barricade the doors."

"You sure? We'll be trapped!"

'If we can pacify the civilians, nullify most of the negativity, the Grimm horde should dissipate.'

"I don't know..."

'Just do it, T.'

"Alright."

Jaune watched the defenders of Beacon begin to give ground, until they were right infront of the doors, then stop.

'What's the holdup, T?'

"According to Weiss Schnee, we cannot open the doors without the 89% chance of letting Grimm into the school. If we were to leave a small force behind to defend the doors, that percentage would decrease drastically."

'You sound like Delta sometimes... Anyway, leaving someone outside is not an option.'

"It is our only option," Theta flickered for a second, then "Russell Thrush, Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, and Fox Alistair have volunteered to defend the doors."

'The chances of survival?'

".0001% chance."

'No. Too small... even a 90% chance is too small. We'll have to run the risk.'

"Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna disagree... They aren't too thrilled with leaving someone behind, too. But, I quote, 'We must do our job.'"

'No. I am not sacrificing anybody. Not today, not ever.'

"Ms. Schnee sent a voice message. Replaying: I'm sorry Jaune... It is now or never... they're ready." Weiss seemed to sob during this message.

"'OOOOOOOOOOOOO, 'OP!" Jaune screamed for the first time as he watched a few students push forward, as the ones behind them began to open the front doors.

After they were through, the doors shut, leaving the suicide team to their fate.

 **A/N: The Battle of Beacon is not over. The second part is coming soon... and warning, there will be main character death.**


	9. Chapter 9

Coco was a mess.

Long hours of fighting, hunger, and having a boyfriend ripped from you would do that to a girl.

As soon as the large doors echoed shut, she let out a heartwrenching shriek of pain.

Fox, her love, her life, had sacrificed herself for her, for her friends.

She continued to shriek until it became painful, and then some.

"Someone help!"

"Is she hurt?"

"I can't believe Russell's gone!"

Voices echoed around her, but she paid them no mind. She only wanted one voice.

Fox's voice.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She felt it's large size, and recognized it immediately as Yatsu.

He turned her around, wordlessly, and she looked up at him.

Although tough, he too, had tears coming from his eyes.

Velvet too, though moreso.

"Coco... I'm sooo-" Someone said behind her. She recognized that voice... the same voice that ordered the doors to close.

She spun around, lashing out with her heavy metal bag, and caught Weiss in the chest, sending her sprawling.

"YOU DID THIS. YOU KILLED THEM. NOT THE GRIMM, NOT ARC, NOT ANYONE, EXCEPT YOU!" She shrieked.

Silence took over... save for the sounds of Grimm knocking at the door.

...wait. Grimm don't knock...

"O-Open the doors!" Blake called, helping Weiss to her feet.

The doors opened to reveal three figures standing in the sunlight, in front of a large pile of disintegrating Grimm.

Said student were welcomed into the hall with cheer.

"The Grimm are GONE!" Someone called happily.

Coco only had eyes for one in particular... one with sharp elbow blades.

"FOX!" She sobbed, rushing forward to hug her boyfriend.

"SCHNEE!" A voice cut through the excited hubbub.

It was scary. Although they all immediately recognized it as Theta, something was different.

"Uh, oh..." Nora whispered next to Coco, and nodded towards the back of the room.

Jaune stood there, visibly enraged, as he slowly walked toward the Heiress.

The crowd parted instantly.

Sensing her girlfriend was in danger, Ruby stood infront of Weiss to defend her.

"Out of the way, Rose."

"No. What she did was-"

"Was against orders. IF she had waited, I would have enacted another plan. One that would NOT have put others in danger."

"And what plan would that be?" Weiss shot back, seemingly also enraged.

"Pyrrha. She could have used her Polarity to create a metal shield from the ruined outer gates." He explained briefly.

Weiss looked like she was going to argue, but a look of realization took over her face.

"O...Oh..."

"Now. IF you hadn't of given that order, we wouldn't have lost someone."

Jaune pointed to the doorway, where Cardin, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark all crouched over something... someone...

"Russell... no..." Cardin said to no one in particular.

"Oh... no..." Weiss could only whisper.

"That is on YOU." Jaune said, still beside himself.

He then turned his attention to the crowd, "Don't you all have other things to do?" he said with barely concealed cold anger, then stalked away.

The students, not wanting to anger him further, set off in a random bustle, save team RWBY.

"Damn... Vomit boy is scary when he's angry... almost as scary as I am..." Yang said in disbelief.

"No... He's more scary." Weiss whispered, and began to cry into Ruby's shoulder.

 **A/N: There. I was gonna wait, but I owed you guys for two weeks of silence. A new longer story Arc will begin in the next chapter. pun intended.**


	10. Chapter 10

Weiss sat on the bed, head hung low, hair covering her face. Ruby sat next to her, attempting to comfort her.

Blake sat in the corner, not wanting to get caught up in any arguments, but staying attentive.

Yang was pacing back and forth in anger.

'How dare he call her out like that? She made what she thought was a good decision!' She thought angrily.

"Yang, calm down. You're burning the floor." Blake said, pointing to the long black streak Yang's feet were currently making.

"No. That… prick…" Yang struggled to contain her anger, but it was clearly not working.

"No… I was at fault… I made a bad decision… I killed a person…" Weiss mumbled amongst Ruby's insistent shushes.

"Weiss, no… not your fault… calm down…" Ruby whispered into her girlfriend's ear, but to no avail.

This was a dark time for Team RWBY. They all felt betrayed.

Nora knocked on the door, calling out, "Hey guys! It's Nora! I just wanted to apologize to Weiss for-"

Yang cut her off, opening to door violently, nearly ripping it off its hinges.

Her eyes were deep red. She was beyond enraged.

"You all should have backed us up! But no…. Pyrrha is too busy trying to get into Arc's pants, and Ren is too… Ren… _and you_. You are always happy, like _all the time_ … You seriously need a reality check Valkyrie. This is a fucking war, and we're losing!" Yang had said, causing Nora back up, silent.

Yang, acting seriously unlike Yang, continued her harsh barrage, "You were supposed to be our friends, our sister team! But you treated Weiss like a fucking kid!" Yang attempted to shove her out of the room, but a sudden green garbed arm blocked her.

"Yang. You need to calm down. This isn't like you." He attempted.

Yang stopped, shocked, then began to laugh… it was a scary laugh, like a maniac.

"Hahaha, Aha! He speaks! For once! Ya know, I don't remember you saying anything during that fiasco either, ninja boy… In fact, I barely recall hearing you say anything, ever! But as soon as I start calling Valkyrie out, you jump in! Ya know I think you just want to get into her pants!"

"YANG!" Ruby shouted, affronted, and attempting to get her sisters attention.

"No, Ruby. I've got this. Where were you when we were surrounded by White Fang in the middle of Mountain Glenn? Ruby tried to call Arc… I'll give you the fact it was disconnected, but did he try to call back? NO. He probably just rolled over and fell back asleep."

"NO. He woke us up to tell us! We didn't know-" Nora attempted to argue back, but Yang once again cut her off.

"Suuurrrreee he did…" Yang sighed.

"Xiao Long, you need to calm down." Ren said authoratively, but she was having none of it.

"I'll show you calm, pretty boy!" Yang said, and dove at Ren.

"YANG, NO!" The rest of RWBY shouted in unison.

Suddenly, Yang's gauntlets glowed black, and they rose sharply toward the ceiling, pinning her arms against it.

"Pyrrha?" Nora asked, turning around.

"No." Came the multi-voiced answer.

Jaune stepped out of the hallway into view, holding his darkened hand up.

"Let me go." Yang whispered in rage.

"Not until you hear what I have to say." Jaune replied, keeping an even tone.

He turned to Weiss, who was now cowering in Ruby's arms.

"First off. Weiss, I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget how much a battlefield can change a person. I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt anyone… but were thinking of the other hunters and huntresses safeties…" Jaune said.

Weiss looked up, still teary eyed, "You… you sure?"

He walked over to her, and got down on her level, looking her in the eyes.

"It's not your fault." He said.

"But-"

"It's. not. Your. Fault." He repeated.

It was then when Weiss began to sob in earnest, clutching her stunned red caped girlfriend in a vice-like hold.

Jaune got up, and turned to the still slightly seething Blonde on the ceiling.

"As for you, Xiao Long. Don't _ever_ go after my team again. Verbally or physically." He said, and let Yang collapse to the ground.

He left, motioning for his teammates to follow.

Silence now reigned within team RWBY's dorm. Yang sat next to Blake, and Weiss still next to Ruby.

Yang shook her head in disbelief.

"I… I can't believe I went off like that… I haven't done that since…" Yang said, choking back a sob.

"Yang… Anger is something we all deal with… sometimes we control it, but sometimes it controls us. Luckily, you have friends here who can help you fight it. And, you have me." Blake said, smiling at her girlfriend.

"Yeah… But one thing is for sure. JNPR isn't the only one who needs to make an apology today…" Yang said, getting up, shook her head to clear it, and started toward the door.

"Yang?" Ruby spoke aloud for the first time.

"Yeah, Rubes?"

"We all have our demons. Please don't let yours control you again."

"I… I'll try, Ruby." She said, and finished the sentence under her breath, 'Or die trying.'

 **A/N: Here's the next chapter. Full of (what I'm hoping are good) feels. Next chapter still in the works, but should be released by end of next Sunday. And seriously guys... 11 chapters and 0 reviews. Please give me feedback!**


	11. Chapter 11

Adam Taurus, head of the notorious White Fang, was not a man to mess with on a good day.

This wasn't a good day.

First, he woke up at 7 AM. Two hours later than usual, so he missed his morning meeting. Second, his coffee was cold. The last thing took the cake though. His most trusted Lieutenant, merely nicknamed Chains, had seemingly gone mad, and attacked his own personally train squad.

"Lieutenant, stand down." He ordered, sword undrawn but ready.

Chains, a massive man with an equally giant chain-saw/sword was standing amongst a few of his underlings… all of which were on the ground bleeding.

The mountain of a man turned to face his command. His mask was gone, revealing a stone cold stare.

There was something off about him. His movements were robotic, and there was something strange clinging to his left ear.

Before Adam could tell, Chains charged, behemoth sword raised above his head.

Taurus simply sidestepped, and turned quickly to face his opponent.

"Chains. Stand down, or-" The chainsword struck out with unwexpected speed, nearly beheading the swordsman.

Adam barely blocked in time, still not fully unsheathing his red blade.

"Last chance. Stop attacking now, or I will use force." Adam tried once again, this time catching a glimpse of an odd red glowing contraption on Chains' left ear.

The giant smirked eerily, "You cannot beat me, little man. You never could, and never will."

His voice, like his movements, were strange. Almost monotonous.

Again with unreal speed, Chains' backhanded Adam's chest, sending the man tumbling into a tent.

Now he was pissed.

"Very well. Consider yourself discharged." Adam said, spitting, and charged.

Adam had fought Chains' many times, and knew all his moves.

Sadly, the same could be said of the giant.

The duel was furious, but evenly matched.

For the first time in forever, the surviving grunts watched their two leaders fight for their lives.

Adam was gaining momentum, but all that was stopped, when Chains' fist smashed into his opponent's visor, breaking it cleanly in half.

He didn't stop there. Using Taurus' momentary shock, Chains' entire hand grabbed Adam's face, and pulled the smaller man off his feet.

"Gah!" Adam said in pain in surprise when he felt his head slam into the ground, creating a small crater.

Chains' massive form loomed over him, silhouetted in the sunlight, and raising his sword tip down for a finishing blow.

"Chains, NO!" Adam shouted, but the tip came down.

Using the last of his energy, Adam managed to divert the heavy blade away, causing it to sink into the ground, all the way to the hilt.

Adam looked quickly for his weapon, and saw it had flown a few feet away.

He made a dive for it, but something caught his leg.

"No you don't, little man…" Came the monotonous voice behind him, and Adam was dragged back by his foot.

'Dammit! He's strong… too strong…' Adam thought.

He felt Chains' other arm wrap around his captured leg, and sudden pain exploded through his body.

"Aaaargh!" He couldn't help but scream.

Turning to look, he saw Chains' hand wrapped around his foot… which was now backward.

His vision became fuzzy, and a primal roar of anger wracked through him, and he dove forward, head down.

"Gah!" He heard the other man cry as his head connected with his own.

Adam's smaller horns had managed to pierce his aura, and drive themselves into his torso.

Adam repeated the move again and again, driving the large man to his knees.

Adam rose shakily, balancing on his one good foot.

This time, Adam took a good long look at what device was on Chains' ear.

It was a simple red greenchopper.

A communications device.

Adam reached out and pulled it from his ear.

Chains' cried out, and began to convulse.

The greenchopper wasn't so simple, as it was now shown to have several tiny, bloody wires connected to Chains' head.

Adam yanked the last of it out, and Chains' collapsed, seemingly dead.

"We-gah-must find whoever is responsible for this." Adam ordered his remaining men, before turning and limping back into his tent.

Perhaps oversleeping wouldn't be too bad anymore…

*Elsewhere*

"Oh… oh well…" The woman said, watching the screen fade to black.

"We seem to have lost our White Fang informant. At least for now…" She said, turning to the figure behind her.

"General. Be a dear and fetch him for me. Those impudent faunus won't stick around much longer…"

The general nodded, sweating.

"Oh general… still fighting it are we?" She cooed.

General Ironwood nodded again, slowly, but still causing the device in his ear to wobble.

"You don't seem to like your new accessory… should I remove it?"

Ironwood looked at her with rage and fear, but answered, "No, Madam Fall."

The ship suddenly shuddered.

"Hm… it seems like more of your human soldiers decided to make a mess… Take a few mechs and clear them up for me." Cinder ordered.

He nodded again, and marched robotically out of the room.

"Now, back to those traitorous children of mine…" She spoke to herself, and began typing orders into a nearby console.

 **A/N: Wow... the arrival of episode 12 made me change some things in my initial story arc. Haven't changed things in the past chapters, but this story is gonna take a different path now that things were revealed. Also, am thinking of an idea for a new fanfic, but want someone's help, maybe make a collab. PM me for details! (AU Role Reversal. Cinder and company are good, Ozpin and company are evil. Will be like the show, but characters are switched.) Going to post new story to be a taste of what I'm planning. Gonna call it Role Reversal. THERE WILL BE NO OCs in my fic. Also, made a mistake while labeling chapters, hence the odd name.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: It's been a while, friends. I once again am writing, however... It's been quite a busy few months. Without futher ado, here's Chapter 12!**

It had been a few days since JNPR and RWBY's argument, and both teams had tried to mend the rift between them…

It wasn't going well. Ruby stopped talking to Jaune, and Nora still caught hastily hidden angry glares from Yang.

Jaune and Pyrrha were too busy to really notice, however. The pair were either making out, or attempting to keep spirits up to avoid another G-day.

C_DL was rarely seen outside their dorm. Pyrrha, of all people, had elected to bring them meals directly to their door.

Weiss steered clear of that room, however. Last time she walked by, a drunk Sky started shouting at her, telling her to go away, and that he'd kill her if he could.

Other than that, and the fact that the school was at war, things were looking up.

A group of human Atlesian soldiers had showed up out of nowhere on a damaged bullhead.

The whole group, at least 20 of them, all surrendered as soon as they landed.

They claimed they couldn't stand hurting innocent people anymore… and so they all deserted.

Jaune, though skeptical at first, chose to believe them.

Based on the fact that they all came unarmed and with as much information as the ship computer could hold, which would have been a pretty dumb move if they weren't truthful, Jaune still ordered them to menial jobs, such as construction of more sturdy walls, and kitchen duty…

Two hours later, two more bullheads came into view, each carrying the same amount of deserter soldiers, though this time including a wounded ship captain.

"You… agh… You Jaune Arc, leader of the Beacon Rebels?" The wounded man said as his soldiers carried him off the ship in a stretcher.

"That's me." Theta said for him.

"You… got an AI? The fucking fiery bitch must have done a number on you…" He said, wheezing.

It looked like he'd been shot.

"What?" Pyrrha asked, appearing next to her leader.

"The… Cinder… the fire bitch… that's what we call her… She… does things to people… she… did something to General… Ironwood… He's not… Agh…" He said, clearly fighting to stay awake.

"What happened to your General?" Jaune/Theta asked loudly, as Pyrrha called out for a medic.

"Red light? Oh… no…" Nora asked, coming up behind them.

"I don't *cough* know what she's after *cough* other than that it's here… in the school." The Captain informed them before slipping into unconsciousness.

Jaune's face became grim, "Me. She must want me back… cut off the head, and the body dies." Theta communicated.

"Jaune. We're not letting her take anyone. Not you, not RW-." she stopped herself. RWBY was still a sore spot with her team.

"I know… I just don't understand her obsession… when I was with… _her…_ She kept talking to me like I was a pet… But we need to fortify defenses. Nothing comes in or out without my say so." Theta relayed

Nora gave a jaunty salute and disappeared, Pyrrha simply nodded and walked away.

'If only my parents could see me now… albeit I'd rather them not.' Jaune thought to himself 'If they could though… I think they'd at least by a little proud…'

He stared at the distant fleet of enemy ships, then turned to his own 'army', 'Well… I certainly am.'

Cinder paced angrily in her assigned room.

Not only had there been dozens of desertions by Atlesian troops, it seemed her matron was getting impatient. She replayed the conversation in her head.

"My Mistress… What is the nature of this ca-"

Salem cut her short, "Why haven't you recovered the Fall Maiden yet?"

"The students of Beacon are putting up a defense… I find myself at a loss on how to overcome them. Every day, more and more deserters from Atlas join their cause, and-"

"If I wanted excuses, I would talk to your compatriot, Roman Torchwick. As I am talking to you, the one who will _be_ the next fall maiden, I expect you to act like it. Kill the students, kill Jaune Arc, and kill the maiden. If you cannot complete the task, I'm sure Tyrian and Neo Politan are more than up to the task…"

"No, Mistress. Beacon will fall within the week."

"Very well. If you do not complete the task within your given time…"

The camera was suddenly enveloped in a wide toothy smile. "I can come out to plaaaaaaaay!" the crazed Scorpion Faunus sang.

She stopped pacing. She had a job to do, and less than a week to do it.

Pressing a button on her intercom, she ordered into it, "Commander, set a course for Beacon. All ships follow suite. It's time to end this rebellion once and for all. Shoot to kill."


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N: Another Chapter, another request for reviews. Enjoy.**

Jaune was sleeping soundly for the first time in months. Beacon was getting back on it's feet. The entire west wing was filled with refugees, while the east wing was filled with Hunters and deserters from the Atlas Military. In almost a week, his numbers had gone from little over a hundred to over three hundred!

He was having a peculiar dream. Something about playing tag in a pre-war Beacon, but he and his friends had giant heads. As he thought, peculiar. He forgot how fun running around doing childish things were.

A loud knock on the door startled him.

"Jaune! Wake up! Something's happening!" A lower voice in the hallway called out.

Cardin.

He quickly reminisced how he used to hate the ex-bully. But also how Cardin had changed after the first assault on Beacon.

"Got it. Coming." Theta called out.

His mouth had all but healed, and he could talk almost perfectly, but he still used Theta out of habit, and almost always left the A.I. on 'free mode', meaning it could think and speak for itself.

Jumping out of bed, he quickly donned his armor, and rushed to the courtyard.

A mixed crowd of Hunters and huntresses, soldiers, and civilians were staring across the water, at Vale.

Atlesian ships hung stationary over the skyscape, both beautiful and terrifying.

No… not stationary, they were moving. Turning. Towards Beacon.

"It's happening." Jaune said aloud, "She's coming."

He'd only whispered, but it was as though he'd shouted.

Instant pandemonium reigned. Civilians screamed, Soldiers barked orders, Beaconites ran hither and thither, grabbing weapons and ammunition.

Jaune himself armed himself with his new weapon, which he called Album Mors, or White Death.

It was a sword, much like Crocea Mors, but longer, with a line of stark white metal lining the thick of the blade, and a chrome silver blade.

He'd taken the time to etch the names of everyone who had died into the white. In his mind, every kill would be from them. His shield also had some renovations. It was thicker, wider, and longer. It had gone from a kite shield to a large tower shield, slightly curved.

The shield, again similar to Crocea Mors, collapsed into a sheath, but this time hung across his back.

When Jaune returned, the soldiers had already set up a wide perimeter, with mortars, rocket launchers, and rifles. Ready for any kind of attack.

Beaconites scattered into their ranks, dotting the white line with flecks of color.

The civilians, meanwhile, had returned to their wing to hide, and he didn't blame them. Part of him wanted to join them.

A fleet of seven large ships were now moving directly toward the school, the leading ship by far the largest behemoth Jaune had ever seen. The soldiers infrequently called it the "Asheregen".

Seven ships, armed to the teeth, able to wipe out Beacon itself with a single barrage.

Mechs they could handle, Grimm? Sure. Seven ships, weighing several thousand tons ready to completely and royally fuck their shit up? No thank you.

'Wait… several tons…' Jaune thought as an idea began to form in his mind.

He quickly looked around for the brilliant red that was his girlfriend. He spotted her giving orders to a group of Atlesians with a large mortar.

"Pyrrha!" He called out, but an even louder voice rang in his ears. Ascheregen had activated a massive loudspeaker.

"Students of Beacon, Traitors of Atlas. Surrender now and you may live." A low voice rang, "We don't want to shed any more blood than we already have."

Ironwood's voice wasn't strong, at least not as strong as before, "You have ten minutes to comply, or we will open fire." A loud clicking sound echoed.

Undeterred, he ran up to Pyrrha, and told her his plan.

"Jaune… I… I don't think I can…" Pyrrha stuttered.

"Don't worry. I'll be with you… it'll be just like dominoes… Giant metal dominoes, but you get the picture."

"I…" She began, but she grit her teeth with sudden determination, "Okay. When?"

"Now."

" _WHAT!?_ " She gasped.

"It has to be now, before they attack."

"Oh… okay…" She said, and followed him to the front.

"Theta, set voice to all channels."

"Got it."

"Attention Cinder Fall. Surrender now and you might live, emphasis on might. We don't need to fight, but we will kill you if we need to. You have…" He looked at his watch, "One minute."

Silence rang in the air at the bold threat.

Seconds later, Ironwood responded, sounding tired and weak. "You have chosen poorly… Prepare to die."

Jaune answered, "With all due respect, General… Fuck that. Theta, end transmission."

Turning to Pyrrha, he nodded, and held his hand out, while Pyrrha did the same.

"With all due respect, General… Fuck that. Theta, end transmission." Cinder saw the small purple thing on the screen flip her the bird before going dark.

"Bold, aren't they… I guess that's what you can expect from children. Right, General?" Cinder snarked.

The general in question looked a mere shell. Gaunt, pale, with bags under his eyes. He swayed on the spot.

The ship suddenly shivered more than usual.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We seem to be encountering minor turbulence. Compensating." The human pilot squeaked under her glaring gaze.

The ship shuddered again, harder.

"I thought you told me you were compensa-" Cinder started, but was cut off when the entire ship dipped and lurched, throwing the poor General off his feet.

The fiery maiden clutched at the railing to steady herself.

"That… wasn't turbulence. What was that?" The pilot called out.

Cinder glanced at the enhanced view screen, which had been zoomed in at the rebels.

She saw Jaune and some redhead girl standing there, arms outstretched.

Wait… not just any redhead. That was Pyrrha Nikos.

An uneasiness settled in her stomach as she quickly looked her up on the database.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Red hair, green eyes. Semblance: Polarity. Pol-" She began, before the ship lurched again, causing the screens to flicker.

She already knew Jaune was a mimic… Her eyes widened.

It clicked.

"PULL AWAY, ALL SHIPS, PULL AWAY NOW!" She shrieked.

She felt the ship tilt violently.

She heard the engines strain, then cut out.

She felt her stomach fly into her lungs as they entered freefall.

"Son of a bitch." She muttered as weightlessness took hold, then blackness took over as the ship slammed into the water.


	14. Chapter 14

Yang watched in awe as Pyrrha and Jaune stepped to the front of the crowd, arms up, palms out.

She knew what they were doing, but didn't think it would work. There was no way Jaune nor Pyrrha were that powerful.

That ship had to be as big at least as massive as Beacon.

That being said, her jaw dropped when the beast's nose sagged toward the water. Explosions rocked the engines as they strained against the magnetism. Pyrrha's signature black glow shone like a shield, forcing the giant into the water.

Its massive size and surprising buoyancy caused the top back half to stick out of the water, thick black smoke seemed to emanate from the metal itself.

It wasn't until the smoke suddenly surged towards them did Yang realize what it was.

Fighters.

Jaune and Pyrrha collapsed, Nora and Cardin caught each respectively, and dragged them behind the line.

Realizing their leadership was unconscious, Yang decided to step in, "Guns up, everyone. We brought down the beast… but its babies are comin'." Next to her, Blake gave a weird look, before rushing toward their fallen commanders.

The Atlesian soldiers were clearly afraid. She tapped one on the shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"You know how many fighters there are in that thing?" She asked.

"Uh. Don't know… five thousand?" He squeaked.

"On a bad day." His adjacent comrade spoke up.

For once, Yang was at a loss for words. She wasn't great at math, but 5,000 ships, each carrying 10 soldiers and 2 paladins… Way too many mechs.

Weiss ran up behind her, "If I heard correctly, there's 100,000 enemies heading towards us right now. And we have, what?" She stared into space for a few seconds, "little over 5,000!?"

"It's too late to call for help. Maybe if Pyrrha or Jaune gets up, maybe they can…?" She looked behind her.

Her two friends were still out cold. Jaune had noticeable changes. His hair was almost all red, and much longer.

Yang noticed Pyrrha seemed to have a blonde-white highlight in her hair now. Odd. Jaune's semblance only worked one way. Right?

She couldn't think about that now. She had a shitstorm of metal enemies' right ontop of them, and no plan of action.

"ALRIGHT. FRONT LINE. READY TO FIRE ON MY MARK!" She called out as loud as she could.

The ships were so close she could see the reflection of the mechanical pilots in the windows.

"FIRE!" She screamed, and the front line erupted.

Almost seemed like their guns were shaking the ground.

No. Not their guns. The whole air seemed to be vibrating.

Yang looked up in confusion, only to see another cloud of 'smoke' begin to blot out the sun.

More ships.

"God damn it. LOOK UP, LINE TWO! LOOK UP!"

Before the second line could follow orders, Yang watched the new cloud fly over Beacon, totally avoiding the students, and flying instead towards the Atlesian fleet.

"YANG, LOOK AT THE LEAD SHIPS!" Blake called out.

Squinting, she recognized the symbol emblazoned on the side.

A wolf's head with three claw marks.

"It's the Fang?" Yang asked herself aloud, now expecting the clouds to converge together on the school.

What happened next was almost as unexpected as Jaune and Pyrrha's magnetic feat.

The White Fang began firing on Atlas.

She watched as the Atlesians lines fell into disarray, before quickly reforming, and engaging the new threat.

"There's no way the Fang has that many ships." Blake said, suddenly at her side.

Yang squinted again.

In addition to the bloody symbol of the white fang, she also spotted a familiar bird with cogs imprinted over it.

She recognized that symbol as her Uncle Qrow's… but it was red, and seemed painted with thick red paint.

By now, most of the Atlesian Mechs had begun the ground assault, and the Beacon defense line was well engaged.

"Atlas is fighting a war on two fronts. We… we might survive this." Blake said hopefully.

A White Fang transport and a 'Qrow' transport swung low, each depositing a small party.

"Adam?" Blake whispered in shock.

A tall red-haired guy with bull horns and a large white mask stood scowling at the school.

The other person, an equally tall woman with an even bigger, more elaborate white mask stood next to him.

"M-Mom?" Yang whispered.

The black and yellow pair cautiously approached the black and red pair.

"Adam… What…?" Blake began.

"I'm here for the Faunus in your school. And as much as I despise humans, I despise this… Technology even more."

"And I'm here to settle a debt. Nothing more, nothing less." Raven Branwen said before taking off towards the front lines.

Blake, Adam, and Yang followed suite.

The line was all but demolished, with large skirmishes happening here in there.

The Battle of Beacon had finally begun.


End file.
